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<title>How to export a model from 3DS Max 4.2</title>
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<p><font size="6"><i><b>How to export a model from 3DS Max 4.2</b></i></font></p>
<p><font size="4">The graphics engine developed to display the visual aspects 
  in the scene is only capable of rendering static objects. These objects are 
  exported from the 3DS Max 4.2 package into the Void format used by the engine. 
  The exporter is written using <a href="http://www.codercorner.com/Flexporter.htm">Flexporter</a> 
  written by Pierre Terdiman. The Flexporter export plugin was written by adding 
  to the sample 'VoidExporter' ... hence the name of the file format. All the 
  necessary code should be located under 'unsupported/FlexporterSDK'. The most 
  important project there would be VoidExporter.</font></p>
<p><font size="5"><b>Quick Installation Instructions</b></font></p>
<p><font size="4">Flexporter is composed of three parts. Support libraries in 
  the form of DLLs, the 3DS Max Flexporter plugin in the form of a DLU file (a 
  utility plugin) and Flexporter plugins (the actual exporters) in the form of 
  FLX files. Each group of files has to be put into the right directory. The support 
  DLLs have to be placed somewhere, where Windows will find them (any place in 
  the PATH). The Flexporter DLU file should be placed in the 'plugins' directory 
  of the 3DS Max installation folder. Note, that Pierre Terdiman provides several 
  different versions of this file (for 3DS Max 4 and 5 plus various Character 
  Studio combinations). Only place the correct DLU in the plugins directory! Last 
  but not least, the Flexporter plugins have to be placed in the 3DS Max directory 
  (the same directory which contains the 3dsmax.exe). After this, the plugin should 
  be loaded correctly on startup. For further questions please refer to the Flexporter 
  Documentation. </font></p>
<p><font size="5"><b>Modelling</b></font></p>
<p><font size="4">Objects can be modelled in 3DS Max as usual. This also includes 
  texture mapping, etc... The only thing to care about is the name of the materials 
  used. The exporter totally ignores the material settings. It only cares about 
  the material name, as this is interpreted by the graphics engine as the path 
  to a file, which contains the material description. So, if the material name 
  is 'material/brick', this will cause the engine to look for a material file 
  called 'material/brick'. The contents of this file should look like this:</font></p>
<pre>Material.Diffuse  = &quot;texture/brick_d.jpg&quot;;
Material.Normal   = &quot;texture/brick_local.png&quot;;
Material.Specular = &quot;texture/brick_d.jpg&quot;;
</pre>
<p><font size="4">The Diffuse texture is the diffuse color of the surface, Normal 
  is the normal map (used for bump-mapping) and Specular describes how light is 
  reflected by the surface (this often is identical to Diffuse).</font><br>
</p>
<p><font size="5"><b>Exporting</b></font></p>
<p><font size="4">Go to the Utilities pane and select the Flexporter utility plugin. 
  There hit 'Export ...' and a list of parameters should show up. Make sure the 
  VoidExporter is selected. The default settings should be sufficient ... and 
  export the file. Then, you only have to load the file into the scenegraph. This 
  is described in the <a href="howto_simulator.html">Simulator HowTo</a>. Look 
  for the creation of StaticObject hierarchy nodes.</font></p>
<p>&nbsp; </p>
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